Achieving the goals of sustainable urban planning requires transport strategies that benefit all road users, not just car drivers. To assist the process of urban renewal and make towns and cities more pedestrian-friendly, the new emphasis is on integrated transport strategies which provide a choice of different means of travel, with purpose-built interchanges ensuring that the transfer from one mode to another is achieved quickly, conveniently and reliably.

The design and planning of transport interchanges requires a wide range of skills encompassing transport and land use planning, crowd circulation modelling and traffic and highway engineering.  Buro Happold’s Infrastructure group have worked on a large number of interchange projects, both in the UK and internationally, encompassing light and heavy rail, tram, underground and bus systems, as well as ferry ports and airports. Our innovative solutions incorporate the latest thinking in interchange design.

The decision how – or even if – to travel often comes down to the quality of the journey ‘experience’. Passengers who need to break their journey require the multi-modal changeover to be as seamless as possible. A well co-ordinated public transport network is clearly essential; but other physical factors that aid smooth connections include the accessibility of the interchange terminal (including disabled access), its layout and operational efficiency and the ready availability of travel information.

Our transport designers look at the interchange from the passenger’s perspective, paying careful attention to the process of arriving and leaving, either by car, bus, train, on foot or by bike. Car parks, taxi ranks, bus and rail termini should be in close proximity and linked by clearly defined pedestrian routes. To improve the appeal of public transport, the interchange should be bright, comfortable and sheltered, offering extra facilities (eg. catering) depending on passenger volumes and waiting times.